Darren Adam Heitner, Esq. is the Founder of HEITNER LEGAL, Founder/CEO of Dynasty Dealings, LLC, Professor of Sport Agency Management at Indiana University Bloomington, Co-Founder of Collegiate Sports Advisors (CSA) and Founder/Chief Editor of Sports Agent Blog, a leading niche industry publication. He is an attorney licensed to practice on the state and federal level, and focuses on sports, entertainment, and intellectual property litigation and transactional work.
Darren is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know (published by the American Bar Association), Contributing Writer of An Athlete’s Guide to Agents, 5th Edition, and has authored many sports, entertainment and intellectual property-related Law Journal articles.
Darren has a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the same institution.

Study To Focus On The Financially Healthy Athlete

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Bono is involved in a new study concerning "The Financially Healthy Athlete." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“78% of all NFL players are divorced, bankrupt or unemployed two years after leaving the game.” Blame retired NFL player Ken Ruettgers for that statistic, which was published as a part of Alejandro Bodipo-Memba’s 2006 USA Today article, Life after the NFL: Typically a struggle, and is often referenced in the world of sports. Despite the nagging recurrence of the statistic, it should serve as a painful reminder that while sports is undoubtedly big business, with Forbes.com naming the value of the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers above $1 billion dollars a piece and Kobe Bryant earning $59.8 million in salary and endorsements in a year, many athletes are unable and/or unwilling to preserve their short-lived wealth.

New York University, in partnership with Constellation Wealth Advisors LLC, wants to do something about that depressing statistic. The university’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management has teamed up with the aforementioned private financial management advisory firm to study “The Financially Healthy Athlete,” with a specific focus on the overall financial health and well-being of athletes in their post-professional athletic careers.

“We have seen so many athletes and individuals who are not prepared for what comes with the uncertainty of the financial world today, and as a company that deals with some select athletes, we are very pleased to be able to assist NYU in helping to create this index of success,” said Paul Tramontano, Co-CEO of Constellation Wealth Advisors LLC. “We think that this type of study will help any athlete, and many individuals, really see what success looks like so that they can be as prepared for what comes after they are in the moment on the field.”

NYU and Constellation will use publicly available data and interviews to determine how and why certain athletes have achieved financial health and identify successful practices in the process. Athletes selected based on their post-professional athletic success and well-being will be honored by the researchers at the conclusion of the study. The first findings of the study are expected to be released later this year.

“All too often, the media dwells on the failures of athletes after their professional careers, but there are numerous examples of those who have excelled,” said Robert Boland, Chair of the Tisch Center at NYU. ”We expect this research will help define what is needed for success post-career for future generations of athletes.”

One of the athletes who has demonstrated success post-playing days is former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Bono. Bono is a principal at Constellation and will be involved in “The Financially Healthy Athlete” project.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time when you read about former athletes, it seems to be negative; the idea for the study came about because we wanted to have something positive,” said Bono to Forbes.com. ”We want to be able to look at whether there is a correlation between how much a guy made while he was playing and how successful he is after playing, who does he surround himself with, who he goes to for advice. We are trying to put some measurement on financial success in sport and success financially after sport.” Bono will be helping researchers gain access to former athletes so that they may be interviewed and will assist subjects by answering questions they may have pertaining to former athletes.

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